Monthly Archives: May 2010

When I picked up Malachy from school today, his teacher had an icy popsicle in one hand and his school bag and lunch bag in the other. I think I said, “Yay,” out loud but she said, “Nope.” She told me how Malachy got in trouble twice today. He ran off during Sports Day and didn’t listen to one of his teachers. Then, instead of listening to his new art teacher during art, he just did what he wanted. So, the teacher said he couldn’t have the popsicle until she talked to me. I agreed 100%.
It’s never easy punishing Malachy, but at the same time, if we don’t, then he’ll think it’s okay not to listen. It was a quiet walk back home, as he rode in his stroller (since I told him not to talk to me just yet). He knew how upset I was and apologized when we got home saying, “Dad, I apologize. I’m really really sorry.” After a shower, I had him write a few apology letters. He wrote four. He was really good about that. He knew how serious his violations were, and he definitely showed remorse.
I made a deal with him. If he has a good report tomorrow, then maybe, just maybe, he’ll get his icy… 🙁

Malachy’s artwork was one of thirteen selected from his school for an exhibition titled, “A Year of Inspiration” at New York Downtown Hospital. It’s gong to be displayed there through May 26th! So, today we walked to the hospital after school for a reception with Shien and PoPo, while getting drenched with rain in the process. Malachy was super excited and bouncing off the walls at the hospital… literally. I would say his piece was the most abstract out of all the pieces. 😉 I hadn’t seen it before I got to the exhibit. Immediately after seeing it, I was like, “His painting must have reminded the selectors of Picasso!” It was definitely unique. 😉 I couldn’t have imagined in a bazillion years that I would be at a hospital looking at artwork from my 3-year-old. Just a few months ago, we were worried because all he wanted to do was to write letters and words. Now, he’s becoming quite the little artist. Ai ya! 😉

Malachy started Instant Messaging before he was 3, mostly with his uncle and grandparents. In a previous post, he actually assumed my identity! 😉 His uncle thought he was chatting with me.
He always loved letters, so he naturally loved the keyboard and typing away. When he got older (can’t believe I just typed the word “older”), he learned that the Mac could use the Chinese Pin Yin system and type out Chinese characters. He LOVED that, too! He can now type on his own, and he will sometimes switch back between English and Chinese, just for fun. When it’s Chinese, he’ll just insert random characters. Sometime, he’ll ask me what he just typed in Chinese, and I’m like, “I don’t know. Go ask Mommy! 😉 ”
Tonight, his uncle was feeling a bit down, so before bedtime, I suggested that he call his Uncle Chris. He tried calling twice, but it was so loud on the other end, and it hung up twice. So, first, he left his uncle a voice message telling him he shouldn’t be upset and that people are just talking, etc…
Then, while Malachy was on the computer, his uncled IM’d from his Blackberry, so I had Malachy take a break to IM him. I sat on the couch while he typed away. I gave him suggestions on what he could type, but he typed what he wanted. This is what he had to say… At first, he didn’t finish the word “UPSET,” so I told him he could retype it. Instead, he thought he should just add the letters on the next line. Later on, I showed Shien and she asked, “What’s GN?” I told her, “Good Night. Your son decided to just type GN on his own…” Ai ya! 😉

This week, many of my students made Mother’s Day cards in class. I shared with the classes that EVERYDAY should be Mother’s Day! This is something we shouldn’t wait once a year to celebrate. The gift of life. PRICELESS.

Last week, when I went out to dinner with Malachy, he just started talking about my mom out of the blue. He’s done this on more than one occasion. He said aloud, “Ngan, Ngan is the best buddy. [I agreed with him] I haven’t seen her in a long time. Dad, how come we can’t go to heaven to see her?” It’s like he can read my mind sometimes and just wants to comfort me! It’s like he knows that I’m thinking about how I wish Malachy and my mom got the chance to hang out. It’s comforting to know that somehow, he feels her presence. 😉 Very cool.

Allergic Reaction
Poor Malachy was bitten by something last week. Mosquito? Spider? Wish we knew. It caused an allergic reaction, so we took him to the doctor’s. Thank goodness the doctor’s office was opened on Sundays! He had to take antibiotics for a week, and he actually loved it! 😉 Supposedly, Cephalexin is yummy! Shien still remembers taking it as a kid and liking the taste a lot.
As an added measure, I bought him a mosquito net. He loved that, too! 😉All NET!